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Abstract

While many empirical works detail the experience of and effects from sexual victimization, the underlying mechanisms that promote a cycle of recurrent victimization are not well understood. The current study replicated a previous study examining the perceptions of the benefits, risks, and personal expected involvement regarding a variety of risk taking behaviors in a sample of 151 college women with and without histories of sexual abuse. The current study further introduced a behavioral task in effort to test the utility of a multi-method approach to risk assessment. T-test analyses revealed that individuals with a history of sexual abuse perceived lesser risk related to illicit drug use, and reported a greater intent to perform behaviors related to illicit drug use and risky sexual behaviors compared to those without a history of sexual abuse. Although there were not significant outcomes differentiating study conditions regarding the behavioral task, modifications to this task are discussed and continued consideration of a multi-method approach is encouraged. Additional implications for future research efforts are discussed.